uniformitarianism

/ (ˌjuːnɪˌfɔːmɪˈtɛərɪəˌnɪzəm) /

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noun

the concept that the earth's surface was shaped in the past by gradual processes, such as erosion, and by small sudden changes, such as earthquakes, of the type acting today rather than by the sudden divine acts, such as the flood survived by Noah (Genesis 6–8), demanded by the doctrine of catastrophism

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Words nearby uniformitarianism

uniform, Uniform Business Rate, Uniform Crime Report, uniformed, uniformitarian, uniformitarianism, uniformity, uniformize, uniform resource locator, unify, unihemispheric slow-wave sleep

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How to use uniformitarianism in a sentence

I have spoken of Uniformitarianism as the doctrine of Hutton and of Lyell.
Lay Sermons, Addresses and Reviews|Thomas Henry Huxley
The limitations implied in these passages appear to me to constitute the weakness and the logical defect of uniformitarianism.
Lay Sermons, Addresses and Reviews|Thomas Henry Huxley
Now uniformitarianism, as we have seen, tends to ignore geological speculation in this sense altogether.
Lay Sermons, Addresses and Reviews|Thomas Henry Huxley
For consistent uniformitarianism postulates evolution as much in the organic as in the inorganic world.
The Life and Letters of Charles Darwin, Volume I (of II)|Charles Darwin

This view is a complete reconciliation of catastrophism and uniformitarianism, and is far more rational than either extreme.
Appletons' Popular Science Monthly, Vol. 56, March 1900|Various

Scientific definitions for uniformitarianism

uniformitarianism

[ yōō′nə-fôr′mĭ-târ′ē-ə-nĭz′əm ]

The theory that all geologic phenomena may be explained as the result of existing forces having operated uniformly from the origin of the Earth to the present time. See Note at Lyell.